6.3 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
An axe murderer terrorizes a small Northern California mountain community, while two young computer-obsessed adults attempt to solve the killings.
Starring: Barton Faulks, Jack Taylor (II), Christina Marie Lane, Page Moseley, Fred HollidayHorror | 100% |
Mystery | 15% |
Thriller | 10% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: LPCM Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
Spanish: LPCM Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English, English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Have you noticed that, in the west, anyway, any given state’s largest city can often host a university for that state named after the state? In that regard, Salt Lake City is home to the University of Utah, and Seattle is home to the University of Washington. Kind of interestingly given the fact that my hometown of Portland is Oregon’s biggest city, several of the actual universities here have Portland rather than Oregon in their names (the University of Oregon is in Eugene, and Oregon State University is in Corvallis). Those institutions of learning include Portland Community College, Portland State University and the University of Portland, a Catholic college rather gorgeously perched on a bluff above the Willamette River in North Portland. Perhaps at least a bit hilariously (if only for Oregonians), this leafy campus gets a sidebar mention in the kind of gonzo but entertaining Edge of the Axe, a film which otherwise is supposed to be several hundred miles south of Portland in Northern California. It’s kind of ironic in a way that the University of Portland gets a passing mention in the film, since the character doing that very mentioning, a young woman named Lillian (Christina Marie Lane), does so in the context of researching a career in the medical field, and there is a huge “teaching” hospital and school here in Portland that is called the Oregon Health Sciences University, a kind of humongous facility that has part of its campus perched on another bluff overlooking not just the Willamette River but downtown Portland as well (there's a pretty famous gondola like tram that runs between the "higher" and "lower" OHSU campuses, which has perhaps unexpectedly become a bit of a tourist attraction in town). Lillian would have no doubt received a fine education at OHSU, though the film, which engages in almost nonstop positing of red herrings and other misdirection, might be making the case that a medical career is really the last thing on Lillian's mind.
Edge of the Axe is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow's insert booklet contains the following information on the restoration:
Edge of the Axe / Al Filo del Hacha is presented in both English and Spanish versions in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with mono audio.This is a very winning looking presentation which preserves the sometimes lurid palette of the piece (especially with regard to some of the blood splatter effects), while also offering a generally very naturally organic looking appearance. Detail levels are routinely excellent in more brightly lit moments, but can tend to falter in some of the darker scenes, scenes which can sometimes be afflicted by a slightly roughhewn looking grain field, as can perhaps be made out in some of the screenshots accompanying the review. Color temperature varies just slightly at times, and a couple of sequences have a slightly bluish undertone. I noticed no major signs of age related wear and tear, and no compression anomalies of any import.
The original 35mm camera negative element was scanned in 2K resolution on a 4K Scanity, graded on Digital Vision's Nucoda Film Master and restored at R3Store Studios in London. The original mono mixes were remastered from the optical negatives by Deluxe Madrid.
All materials for this restoration were made available by Paul Rich and José Frade P.C.
Edge of the Axe features either English or Spanish language tracks offered via LPCM Mono audio. While there's no really huge differences between the two other than the obvious language being spoken, to my ears the Spanish language track is just slightly boxier sounding, without quite the energy in the midrange and low end that the English language track provides. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout, and there's a rather nice score by Javier Ellioreta which also sounds nicely full bodied.
- English Version (1080p; 2:46)
- Spanish Version (1080p; 2:46)
Edge of the Axe isn't littered with just a surplus of sliced and diced victims, it's also filled with any number of logical inconsistencies, though of course "logic" isn't always the strong suit in any given slasher. The film is stuffed to its veritable gills with a host of characters, which might seem to make the "pickin's" rife with potential suspects, though many armchair sleuths will know that the actual possibilities are manifestly few in number. The film has some pretty graphic kill scenes which should delight lovers of this kind of film, and those who work in IT may get a passing kick out of the supposed "high tech" angle of the computer element. Technical merits are solid, and as usual Arrow has assembled some winning supplements. For lovers of slasher films if for no one else, Edge of the Axe comes Recommended.
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